9.  At the material time the applicant worked as a journalist for Struma, a local newspaper based in the town of Blagoevgrad, reporting on the work of law‑enforcement agencies and investigating crime‑related news. On 16 December 1996 the term of her contract with the newspaper expired and her employment was terminated.
10.  On 19 September 1994 Struma ran an article titled “Camp head counsellor mistreats twenty‑seven children”. In that article, written by the applicant, the manager of a schoolchildren's summer camp, Mr P.Y., was accused of having beaten and ill‑treated the children in his care.
11.  On 22 August 1994 Mr P.Y. complained to the Razlog District Prosecutor's Office. The Office conducted a preliminary inquiry in the course of which the applicant was questioned on 12 September 1994.
12.  On 14 September 1994 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against the applicant.
13.  On 13 October 1994 the applicant was charged with having defamed Mr P.Y. through a newspaper article containing disparaging facts about him and imputing a crime to him, the said acts being related to Mr P.Y.'s official duties. As a measure to secure her court appearance she was directed not to leave the town without authorisation. She was questioned.
14.  On 7 and 9 December 1994 and 5 January 1995 the investigator in charge of the case questioned the applicant, Mr P.Y., and seven witnesses.
15.  On 6 January 1995 he concluded his work on the case and sent the file to the prosecutor, recommending the applicant's committal for trial.
16.  On 16 January 1995 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office remitted the case to the investigator with instructions to append a document establishing Mr P.Y.'s status as an official and a certified list of the schoolchildren who had been at the camp at the time of the incident.
17.  The prosecutor's instructions were complied with and on 9 February 1995 the applicant was again allowed to consult the case‑file. The case‑file was then forwarded to the prosecution.
18.  On 6 March 1995 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office indicted the applicant.
19.  The Blagoevgrad District Court set the case down for hearing on 28 September 1995, calling seven witnesses. The panel of the court consisted of one judge and two lay judges.
20.  The hearing listed for 28 September 1995 did not take place because four of the seven witnesses did not show up and the applicant asked the court for time to retain a lawyer. The court adjourned the case, fined the witnesses who had failed to appear and ordered that they be brought to the next hearing by force.
21.  A hearing was held on 8 November 1995. All witnesses but one were present. Mr P.Y. intervened as a civil claimant and a private prosecuting party. He asked for leave to call one witness. The court acceded to his request. The applicant and all witnesses present, including the one requested by Mr P.Y., were questioned. Finding that one witness was absent, the court adjourned the case, ordering that he be brought to the next hearing by force.
22.  On 29 November 1995 counsel for the applicant requested that the next hearing, which had been listed for the following day, 30 November 1995, be adjourned, as he would be representing a client at the Blagoevgrad Regional Investigation Service at that time. On 30 November 1995 the Blagoevgrad District Court decided to adjourn the hearing, because counsel for the applicant and the unquestioned witness were absent.
23.  A hearing listed for 9 February 1996 failed to take place because the applicant was ill and could not attend and because the remaining witness was absent as well. On the motion of the prosecution the court decided to require that the applicant guarantee her court appearance with bail instead of a pledge not to leave town. The applicant appealed against this order and on 22 February 1996 the Blagoevgrad Regional Court overturned it.
24.  A hearing listed for 29 March 1996 could not take place because the applicant was in hospital and unable to appear in court, and because the remaining witness was absent as well. The prosecution again requested the court to change the measure imposed on the applicant, but its motion was rejected.
25.  A hearing was held on 17 May 1996. The remaining witness showed up and was questioned. The court heard the parties' oral argument.
26.  By a judgment of the same date the Blagoevgrad District Court found the applicant guilty of having defamed Mr P.Y. and sentenced her to five months' imprisonment, suspended, and to a public reprimand. She was ordered to pay Mr P.Y. 45,000 old Bulgarian levs (BGL) in non‑pecuniary damages.
27.  On 31 May 1996 the applicant appealed to the Blagoevgrad Regional Court.
28.  A hearing was held on 3 December 1996. No new evidence was adduced by the parties. The court heard their oral argument.
29.  By a judgment of 24 June 1997 the Blagoevgrad Regional Court upheld the conviction, but reduced the applicant's sentence to a BGL 5,000 fine.
30.  On 14 August 1997 the applicant lodged a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Cassation.
31.  The court held a hearing on 26 January 1998.
32.  By a judgment of 2 February 1998 the Supreme Court of Cassation quashed the lower courts' judgments and remitted the case. It found that the minutes of all the hearings held by the Blagoevgrad District Court but the last one contained the name of one lay judge, whereas the minutes of the last hearing and its judgment contained the name of another. It was thus highly probable that the panel of the court which had decided the case was different from the panel which had sat at the trial. This was a material breach of Article 257 § 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which required that the composition of the court remain the same throughout the trial. It necessitated the quashing of the Blagoevgrad District Court's judgment, as well as of the judgment of the Blagoevgrad Regional Court which had failed to spot this shortcoming, and the remitting of the case for a fresh examination by the first‑instance court.
33.  On remittal the Blagoevgrad District Court set the case down for hearing on 23 June 1998. The applicant was not duly summoned and did not appear. The prosecution requested that the proceedings be transferred to another venue, the Razlog District Court, as most of the witnesses lived in Razlog. The court agreed and, in accordance with the relevant procedural rules, sent the case to the Supreme Court of Cassation for its forwarding to the Razlog District Court.
34.  By an order of 2 October 1998 the Supreme Court of Cassation rejected the Blagoevgrad District Court's request and returned the case to it for continuation of the proceedings. It held that since the Blagoevgrad District Court had already started examining the case, procedural economy did not require a change of venue.
35.  After the returning of the case the Blagoevgrad District Court held a hearing on 24 March 1999. The prosecution requested to be allowed to “particularise” the charges. The applicant's defence objected, stating that the rules of criminal procedure did not provide for a “particularisation” of the charges; the pretended “particularisation” was in fact an amendment of the charges. In its view, such an amendment during the trial would infringe the applicant's defence rights. The Blagoevgrad District Court held that the charges had in fact been amended, which infringed the applicant's defence rights. Accordingly, the court remitted the case to the prosecution authorities with instructions to formally present the applicant with the amended charges and thereafter resubmit the indictment against her.
36.  On 10 May 1999 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office sent the case to the Blagoevgrad Regional Investigation Service with a view to securing compliance with the court's instructions.
37.  Apparently no procedural activity took place after that.
38.  In March 2000 the Criminal Code was amended, installing more lenient penalties for defamation and making it a privately prosecutable offence in all cases. Accordingly, the limitation period for the offence allegedly committed by the applicant became shorter (from seven and a half years to three years), expiring in 1997. In view of this, on 12 April 2000 the applicant requested the prosecution authorities to discontinue the proceedings.
39.  By a decision of 21 June 2000 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office decided to discontinue the proceedings. It found that following the amendments of the Criminal Code of March 2000 the offence with which the applicant had been charged had become privately prosecutable. It also found that the alleged victim, Mr P.Y., had not expressed the wish that the proceedings continue within three months after the entry of the amendments into force.
40.  The decision was forwarded ex officio to the Blagoevgrad District Court, which upheld it with an identical reasoning on 29 June 2000, without holding a hearing. It was not notified to the applicant. According to her, she was not informed about the discontinuation despite her numerous enquiries to the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office, and did not learn about it until April 2004, when she received the Government's observations on the admissibility and merits of the present case.
41.  On 2 November 1994 Struma published an article written by the applicant, in which she made allegations that Sanel EOOD, a municipally‑owned company in the town of Sandanski, had been siphoned off and was being led towards insolvency by its managers, Mr I.S. and Mr R.T. through shady deals from which they had personally profited.
42.  On 10 November 1994 Mr R.T. complained to the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office, alleging that the article had defamed him. On 17 November 1994 Mr I.S. also lodged a complaint, requesting the applicant to be charged.
43.  On 3 May 1995 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against the applicant.
44.  On 25 May 1995 the applicant was charged with having defamed Mr I.S. and Mr R.T. through a newspaper publication, by divulging vilifying facts about them, the said acts being related to their official duties. She was instructed not to leave town without authorisation and was questioned.
45.  On 31 May and 1 June 1995 the investigator in charge of the case questioned the alleged victims, Mr I.S. and Mr R.T., and two other witnesses. They also gathered a number of pieces of written evidence.
46.  On 11 July 1995 the investigator concluded his work on the case and sent the file to the prosecution with the recommendation that the applicant be committed for trial.
47.  On 15 November 1995 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office indicted the applicant.
48.  The first hearing before the Blagoevgrad District Court, listed for 13 November 1996, failed to take place because the applicant did not appear. A witness was absent as well. The court changed the measure to secure the applicant's appearance to bail. On 26 November 1996 the applicant appealed against this order and on 22 February 1996 the Blagoevgrad Regional Court overturned it, holding that the applicant had not been summoned in a timely manner and had thus been justified in not showing up for the hearing.
49.  Two hearings, fixed for 14 April and 4 June 1997, were adjourned because the applicant had not been duly summoned and did not show up. The court sent a letter to the regional police department with a request to indicate the exact address of the applicant.
50.  A hearing took place on 20 October 1997. The court heard the applicant and questioned two prosecution witnesses and one defence witness. Two other prosecution witnesses, who had been duly summoned, did not show up. The prosecutor stated that he insisted on the questioning of the missing witnesses and also asked the court to admit in evidence the original of the article written by the applicant and the employment contracts of Mr I.S. and Mr R.T. Counsel for the applicant submitted as evidence copies of the documents on the basis of which the applicant had written the impugned article and some other pieces of written evidence. He also requested leave to call several witnesses. The court admitted in evidence the documents presented by the defence, acceded to the prosecution's and the defence's requests for the calling of witnesses, and adjourned the case.
51.  The next hearing was held on 20 January 1998. The court questioned five witnesses. The prosecution requested leave to call one more witness. Counsel for the applicant adhered to this request and also asked the court to admit in evidence certain documents. The court agreed and adjourned the case.
52.  The next hearing took place on 2 April 1998. The court admitted in evidence certain documents requested at the previous hearing. It adjourned the case, as the witness requested by the prosecution at the previous hearing had not been duly summoned and did not show up and the remainder of the documents requested by the defence at the previous hearing had not been produced by the persons which were in possession of them.
53.  The next hearing was held on 2 June 1998. The court re‑questioned one of the witnesses. The witness requested by the prosecution on 20 January 1998 was not duly summoned and did not show up. The prosecutor stated that he insisted on the witness's questioning and requested leave to call another witness. The court gave leave over the objection of the applicant and adjourned the case.
54.  The next hearing took place on 15 September 1998. The court questioned a witness for the prosecution. The prosecution requested the court to discontinue the trial and remit the case to the phase of the investigation, arguing that the charges against the applicant had not been formulated with sufficient precision and that her defence rights had thus been infringed. The court agreed and remitted the case.
55.  Apparently no procedural activity took place after the remitting.
56.  In view of the amendment of the Criminal Code of March 2000 (see paragraph 38 above), on 12 April 2000 the applicant requested the prosecution authorities to discontinue the proceedings.
57.  By a decision of 21 June 2000 the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office decided to discontinue the proceedings. It found that following the amendments of the Criminal Code of March 2000 the offence with which the applicant had been charged had become privately prosecutable. It also found that the alleged victims, Mr R.T. and Mr I.S., had not expressed the wish that the proceedings continue within three months after the entry of the amendments into force.
58.  The decision was forwarded ex officio to the Blagoevgrad District Court, which confirmed it with an identical reasoning on 29 June 2000, without holding a hearing. It was not notified to the applicant. According to her, she was not informed about the discontinuation despite her numerous enquiries to the Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor's Office, and did not learn about it until April 2004, when she received the Government's observations on the admissibility and merits of the present case.